Everything is Fine: RWBY Reacts to Marble Hornets
by HeyThat'sPrettyBlue
Summary: Team RWBY wakes up to find a package at their doorstep containing DVDs entitled "Marble Hornets". What lies within these entries and what do they mean? Rated T for mild gore and swearing.
1. Introduction

"Hey guys! Check out what I found!"

Beacon Academy. On a Saturday morning every weekend, each and every team just took the opportunity to either relax, train, or studying (like one certain individual). And today's no different.

Team RWBY were sitting in their dorm, Weiss freshening up for the day, Blake sitting on her bed reading a book (it is not what you think it is), and Yang dozing off after just having gotten done in the shower with a towel wrapped around her head.

But that leaves one question: where is their scythe-wielding, fearless, little speed demon of a leader?

Their door was kicked in with Ruby having one of the biggest and cutest smiles on her face while she held up some sort of a thick Manilla package. Her teammates all jolted up from the surprise _entry_ that their leader had made. Like really, she almost broke the door off it's hinges.

"Ruby! What did I tell you about barging in like that? You do realize we're gonna have to pay for the damages we cause!" Weiss, the oh so ever Ice Queen that she is, scolded her leader. Who even is the leader of this team?

The aforementioned girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Right, I forgot sorry."

Weiss just huffed and went back to whatever she was doing. That entrance woke up Yang instantly as the blonde bombshell made her way to her sister's place in the room, "Whatcha got there, sis?"

Rose gasped as she looked down at her mail, "I don't know. I haven't opened it yet."

Her older sister grinned and swiped the package from her grasp, Ruby whined and reached for it, only to fail miserably due to her height, "Well, let's go ahead and open it up!"

Blake shut her book and mentioned, "Yang, it could be a trap. For all we know, it could spill a gas bomb and put us all asleep and we'll wake up in the middle of nowhere days later with no way to return back."

The four in the room grew silent at their black-haired ninja's idea of a plot. The sisters bursted out laughing and Weiss rolled her eyes. She didn't disagree. It could be a trap, just not that extreme.

Blake deadpanned. She was being serious. They've like, what, one hundred enemies in the White Fang and Roman, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald?

Yang wiped a tear from her eye and chuckled briefly while handing the package back to her sister and leader, "Oh Blakey, you need to step away from those books for at least a week."

At that suggestion, Blake hissed and held her books close to her, "Never."

They all smiled at their little exchange there and now turned their attention to the Manilla envelope.

Ruby shook it and it made a short shuffling noise rather boringly. She wasted no time in ripping the top open and out came three plain white DVD cases with the title " **Marble Hornets** " written in crude penmanship and a circle with an "x" crossing through it.

They all _huh_ 'ed in question as Ruby took the first one that came out and opened it. A note fell out of the case that was folded closed. Weiss picked up the note before anyone else and folded it back open and lo and behold, there was something inside.

She began to read, " _To whom it may concern, this package is the only product that will have ever survive the last extinction of the human race on Earth. I am sending this to you because these discs were so influential in their prime as many have loved and held it deep within their hearts. I would want these to keep alive and bring others closer to the unknown and influence them into thinking even further than the average person. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Please enjoy._ "

RWBY had frowns on their faces. This place called "Earth" is extinct and this package is the only thing to make it out alive? It seems that this person wanted them to watch it (to Weiss' chagrin), so they had no other choice than to see what this was at least.

"Poor guy, his race were wiped out from existence. But from what?" Yang wondered softly.

"Hey, this case has the number one on it." Ruby garnered their attention as she pointed out the lone "1" on the back of the case.

"You're right. These have two and three on their backs respectively too. They seem to be in order." Blake held up the other two cases in her hands.

"Since they're DVDs, we need a player to play these on…" Weiss said, even though she'd rather be studying for next week, but one wouldn't hurt she guessed.

"As a matter of fact, we do indeed have such equipment." Ruby mentioned, going under Blake's bed and bringing out a DVD player.

"How did I not notice?" Blake asked herself with wide eyes. She keeps books under her bed too, so why hasn't she seen that before?

"Well, plug that bad boy in and pop number one in, baby sis!" Yang encouraged Ruby, who quickly zoomed through the room. When she finished, a TV had appeared out of nowhere standing on a table with the player plugged and sitting near one leg of the table on the floor.

The four girls all sat on the floor with their pillows under their rears so they won't hurt. Ruby had swiftly grabbed the remote before she sat down. Now Yang wished that she had something to snack on along with Ruby and Blake. Weiss just paid attention as the screen immediately played.

A black screen was what appeared first with this weird, unsettling ambient noise that sounds like it's coming from inside a car. Already Ruby was feeling a bit unnerved, Yang just sat still, Weiss quirked an eyebrow at the noise, and Blake had her eyes glued to the screen.

Then white text appeared in the center of the black screen:

 **The following clips are raw footage excerpts from Alex Kralie.**

 **A college friend of mine.**

"Alex Kralie. Something about that name just doesn't sit right with me." Blake muttered. Weiss nodded in agreement, feeling the same.

"What makes you say that, Blake?" Ruby asked innocently. Blake couldn't answer as the screen faded into footage out the window of a vehicle of someone driving through the suburbs. Visible are houses, fences, industrial structures.

The team waited more, easily intrigued as more white text appeared at the top of the screen, overlaying the footage:

 **In 2006, Alex was in the process of shooting his student film, entitled Marble Hornets.**

 **Over the three months that this took place, his film crew complained of his increasing levels of stress and irritability.**

 **Near the end of shooting, Alex halted production indefinitely and dropped the unfinished project.**

 **He told me it was due to the "unworkable conditions" on his set, which was less than a mile away from his house.**

"That's the title of this show!" Ruby and Yang yelled out in unison.

Weiss was in deep thought. This Alex person had lost his crew due to stress and irritability, so something must have happened to him that made him like that. And the student film seemed to be very old. If the show dated back to 2006, then how long has it been now? She'll have to wait and see.

Blake however, paid more attention to the "unworkable conditions" that was near his house. What kind of conditions were they that made it difficult to keep on with his film? Was he being stalked, threatened? So many questions…

The footage faded slowly to the black screen again. The ambient noise continues:

 **I asked what he planned to do with the countless number of tapes he had filled.**

 **"Burn them."**

"What?! Why?!" Ruby yelled in disbelief, not understanding why he would throw away his work like that.

"Remember Ruby, it was all because of those conditions that made him stressed out and like any director, who is always busy, couldn't keep up with all the things that were going on. He choked and gave up." Weiss recalled, BY agreeing and nodding at W's answer.

Ruby pouted, "Well, I'd never burn my work…"

The footage from before fades back in. This appears to be from the front of a car, as the sun is setting and dusk is falling. Visuals of other cars driving, streetlights, and small businesses along the side of the road can be seen. White text appears over the top of the screen again:

 **Being a film student myself, I hated to see all of his work go to waste.**

 **And after some coercing he agreed to give them to me.**

 **Under the condition that I never mention it to him again.**

"Yeah! See? There ya go! Now that's what I call a good friend!" Ruby jumped in her seat for joy, Yang and Blake giggling at their leader's attitude. Weiss rolled her eyes, but smirked in amusement at the young leader.

The screen had cut to some footage of later evening. A treeline and various power lines and towers can be seen, black silhouettes against a darkening blue sky. The angle is lower. More white text:

 **Soon after, Alex transferred to another school and I haven't seen him since.**

 **At the time, I was too unnerved to look through the tapes, and eventually forgot about them.**

"Well, that sucks." Yang blatantly said at his friend's decision in leaving, Ruby frowning at this person's decision in running from his problems. Weiss merely scoffed at their cowardness and Blake shaking her head. How bad can they be? It's a student film. This Alex person is making it way more difficult than it has to be.

The camera is angled towards the road ahead again rather than the treeline. The footage fades to black again. The creepy ambient noise remains. More white text:

 **A few days ago I found them filed away in the back of my closet.**

 **After three years and zero contact with Alex, I have decided to look through them.**

 **All the tapes are unnumbered and missing timestamps. Other than taking place in the summer of 2006, it is impossible to determine the exact order or date of each.**

 **Should I find anything in any of them I will upload it to keep as a permanent record.**

The ambient noise fades out finally and the video ends. Ruby stopped it before it finished wholey and turned to her teammates, "Well, that was something."

"Yeah, this whole thing is weird and very mysterious. I wanna watch some more!" Yang cheered.

"I have to agree it does pique my interest mildly. I don't mind watching more of it." Blake admits, the sisters cheered together as they all turned to the most difficult person in this entire school' Weiss Schnee.

The heiress wasn't ashamed to admit it, "It does have that charm where anyone would want to keep watching, so I confess that it certainly does make me want to see more."

Yang gasped and mockingly states in horror, "What? Weiss Schnee is choosing movies over homework? What has the world come to?!"

"Shut up, you brute! I'll have you know that not everything is pencils and papers with me, so shut it!" Weiss screamed in her face, with the other three in the room laughing. Weiss huffed and sat back down, "So, are we gonna keep watching or what? I would really like to see who this Alex Kralie person is and what his deal is."

"I want to know what this narrator finds in those tapes that his friend gave him. What could be on those tapes?" Blake muttered to herself. Yang agreed and wanted to know what happens next with the two friends.

"Ok, let's keep watching!" Ruby said excitedly. Little red's mind was flowing with questions as well. What are those tapes for? Who is Alex Kralie?

None of them knew what horrors awaited them.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Hiya. I'm this story's author and I've gotta say, this is one of the most bizarre ideas anyone has ever had. Team RWBY reacting to Marble Hornets, the two greatest web shows that have ever lived?! I'd buy it**.

 **As you know, MH is owned by the amazing Troy Wagner and Joseph DeLage. RWBY is, as you know, owned by the late and great Monty Oum. I have no connections to these two great shows in any way, shape, or form.**

 **And I had this in my head for a while and I said, "Hey, why not?"**


	2. Entries 1 & 2

"Okay gang, ready for the next one?"

Team RWBY had just got done watching the "Introduction" of this weird mystery show and now they're going to watch the next entry. Yang had stopped by the cafeteria to gather some movie snacks. Ruby was chewing on cookies with a glass of milk next to her, Weiss was sipping on a Coke ICee, Blake was munching on a couple of sandwiches, and Yang was going to town on a tub of popcorn.

"Yes, we're waiting. Play it." Weiss hurried Ruby who stuck her tongue out at the heiress and pressed play.

"I wonder if the narrator did find anything worthwhile on those tapes Alex gave him." Yang wondered while stuffing her face.

"Only one way to find out." Blake reasoned.

The black screen appeared again . There is ambiguous ambient noise such as might be picked up by a microphone in a quiet room. The white text appears centered on the black screen:

 **Entry #1**

"Oh, so they're called "entries" and not episodes. Makes sense, since these are in the "videotape diary" fashion." Weiss muttered to herself.

"Very... _entries_ -ting, huh Weiss-cream?" Yang joked, the three groaning in annoyance.

"Just watch the video." Blake pleaded, Yang apologizing to her team. Ruby shook her head at her sister's antics before looking back at the black TV screen. More white text appears:

 **After viewing a couple of tapes and finding nothing of unusual, I came across a clip that doesn't fit with the others.**

 **From what I can tell, the following footage takes place inside Alex's house, not the set for Marble Hornets.**

 **The audio has been removed. Either the microphone was disabled at the time, or it was taken out afterwards.**

"That sounds very suspicious if you ask me." Blake stated. Yang and Ruby turning to her in question. Blake answered, "It just seems like Alex would be the kind of guy to get rid of any critical evidence that there is something happening to him. He doesn't want people messing with him and asking him questions about it."

Weiss looked pensive before answering, "It's probably because he wanted the people close to him to stay out of it so they won't fall victim to whatever it is that's troubling him."

Blake nodded unsurely and the sisters _oh_ 'ed in understanding.

The video cuts to footage from a camera pointed downwards, which then pans upward through a series of ambiguous images till it comes to rest on what appears to be one side of a covered table lamp. A visual tear appears at the bottom of the screen. It moves upward until it almost reaches halfway. The tear resolves. It cuts to black.

RWBY all grew confused at what that was supposed to be. Why is Alex so shaky? Why did the footage show a lamp of all things?

A lighter-colored silver comes into frame from the right. The black is apparently footage inside a very dark room. The camera approaches the silver until it resolves as a gap between blinds covering a window. Outside the window, the white railing of a deck can be seen.

Ruby was on the edge of her pillow, Weiss looked a bit nervous, Blake did not take her eyes off the screen, and Yang tightened her grip around the popcorn.

A hand appears in frame briefly to move the blinds further aside. The camera pans slowly over the deck, to the right. A long shadow can be seen cutting across the lawn beyond the deck diagonally. The camera pans far enough left to pick up a figure standing further along the deck. The figure appears to be male, and is wearing a black suit. He is very pale, and no facial features can be discerned. The camera pauses on this figure.

"What...the...hell?" Yang slowly said. Weiss lowered herself into the ground in caution, Ruby's eyes widened in fear of the abnormally tall man, and Blake had her hands on her face that were close to her eyes to close out her view, but she peeked one eye open.

The figure turns his head abruptly towards the camera. Poor Ruby screamed her lungs out, Weiss jerked in her seat, spilling some of her drink, Blake yelped slightly and staggered back a little in her seat, and Yang twitched in fear and the popcorn flew in the air. The camera immediately moves away, and black overtakes the screen. More white text appeared:

 **This was the only thing that was out of the ordinary on this particular tape.**

 **After seeing this clip, I'll keep an eye out for occurrences similar to this one in the future.**

The screen cuts to black and the video ends. Every member of RWBY were breathing heavily and tried to regain their senses, albeit with tremendous effort.

Ruby stuttered in her speech, "That was so s-scary!"

"What in the world was that person?! That was not human!" Weiss argued and coughed hard for some reason. Blake patted her back with the heiress thanking her.

"Yang, the popcorn…" Ruby trailed off in tiredness.

"My bad. I didn't expect that creepy ass figure to turn his head like that. It was like he knew who we were through the camera…" Yang finished ominously, RWB shuddering from head to toe.

"I t-think that this was not the first time that Alex had met with this guy. He already appears jumpy at the figure and is already filming himself at home." Blake analyzed, still recovering from the scare.

"Your right. There's got to be more to this clip, the narrator just hasn't found it yet." Weiss answered back.

"But do you guys remember that the narrator said that there was no noise?" WBY nodded at their leader's question, "I noticed that there was white noise in the video, so it could have been an error on his part or he just didn't hear it."

"For once, you made a very smart deduction. I applaud you." Weiss said, clapping her hands in front of Ruby's face.

"Hey! I can be smart too, you know!" The young prodigy said, slapping her hands away. BY laughing at her silliness.

"That entry was kind of short. Do you guys want to watch more?" Yang offered, the three nodding and shrugging all together.

Ruby went ahead and resumed the movie. The black screen appeared again with white text centered on the screen:

 **Entry #2**

 **After a few more hours of tapes, I found this clip of Alex talking while driving.**

 **For now, I will assume that this probably took place before the events of entry #1.**

Weiss and Blake nodded to each other at their assumption. They were right. There was more to the last entry. Yang sat down on her sister's side in case anything happens, and the leader was keeping herself calm by dipping her cookie into the milk beside her. Footage out the front window of a car driving at night appears on screen. There is ambient noise, and Alex immediately begins to speak.

"So is he finally gonna talk?" Yang said in anticipation. They all wondered what he sounded like.

 **Alex: "I got home late tonight and I was taking Rocky for his walk about, uh, twenty minutes ago, so around midnight. This was near the set of Marble Hornets. A little bit farther down the road we saw this really tall guy standing in the middle of the street, just completely still. For whatever reason, this really set off Rocky, and, um… he g— he got really scared. He… wouldn't move and he kept on pulling on his leash to go back home."**

"It was the figure from the last entry!" Ruby exclaimed, scared.

"Remember, this is before entry #1, so he doesn't know about him here as he's driving." Blake reminded her team.

"Hmm, he doesn't sound that bad. Me likey~!" And there goes Yang, her teammates looking at her incredulously.

A dot of light appears along the curve of the road, to the left of the screen. It gets larger as the car approaches. It is a tall streetlamp. The four breathed a sigh of relief as they mistook the tall street lamp for the tall man.

 **Alex continues: "There was something about this guy that was just… it was strange. So, uh, we headed back home. I have a little bit of time left on this tape, and, um, I'm going to go see if he's still hanging around. In fact, I think this is the light he was standing under, so I'm going to go have a look here…"**

"No no no no no no no no no! Don't do that!!!" Ruby yelled, worried for Alex. Yang didn't move and waited for everything to go wrong with her eyes clenched. Weiss was actually pretty terrified of what could happen to Alex. Blake sat attentively, watching very closely for anything out of the ordinary.

The top of the streetlight moves out of the top of the frame as the car comes in close. The car pulls off the side of the road into what appears to be a very small rest stop. The car comes to a halt. There are noises of a car door opening. The camera moves, as if it is being picked up. The visual pans to the road to the left of the car, and the ambient noise changes to nighttime outdoor noises. The camera is panning left and right.

All of RWBY were scanning the screen for anyone who could potentially jump out into frame and possibly hurt Alex, but couldn't see very well because of the constant swinging of the camera and the darkness of the night.

 **Alex says: "Okay, you can't really see it well on the camera, but… I don't see… anyone around here, so I guess he's… moved on. Uh… But, yeah, there's just something about that that—"**

The clip ends abruptly. The team of huntresses-in-training had their hands out like, 'What the hell?' with eyes huge in confusion. The screen cuts to black. White text on a black screen:

 **The tape ends there.**

 **From what he describes, I think he has seen something similar to the figure that appears in entry #1.**

The screen cuts to black again and the video ends. Ruby's mouth impersonated one of a goldfish, Weiss was stuttering in her speech, "W-Wha-...h-ho-...i-it…". Blake had her hands in her face to hide her expression that represented one of her few faces. This one was the face where she finishes a book in a series and it leaves in a cliffhanger and she has to wait for the next volume. Total disbelief. Yang's face was confused as all hell, wondering if the camera ran out of time there...or something else.

"What was that?! What happened?!" Ruby asked her team, desperately looking for an answer.

"We're just as stumped as you are, Rubes." Yang tried calming down her sister.

"Well, he did say that he had little time left on the tape so that's why it cut the way it did." Weiss explains.

"Blake, do you have anymore of your theories or observations?" Ruby asked her ninja teammate.

Blake looked to the side and tried to come up with something, "This is possibly not the first time he's seen the tall man. The fact that he goes back with a camera to investigate a man standing on the side of the road would tend to support the idea that Alex already has an inkling that the figure is something strange."

Yang hummed and Ruby asked the question of the day, "More?"

"Do you even have to ask?" WBY agreed.


	3. Entries 3 & 4

It's been exactly two minutes since their discovery of the mystery DVDs entitled "Marble Hornets" and team RWBY is loving every second of it, despite it scaring the living daylights out of them on separate occasions.

Something about this show just grabs your attention fairly easily and it's so engaging within the first two entries.

Right now, Yang and Ruby were in the middle of cleaning up the mess the former had made due to her scare with that mysterious stranger that was stalking Alex. Speaking of which, while the sisters were doing their chore, Weiss and Blake were talking to each other about that tall man.

"I am telling you, that man is a total creep. Why was he there in the first place?" Weiss ranted to her teammate. Blake shrugged and looked for anything that they might've missed. And it seems she was right when she pulled out at least eight pages that were scribbled on unorganized. Weiss cringed at them.

"What...are these? Notes?" Blake muttered under her breath, studying them for a bit. Ruby and Yang were done and decided to look to.

"Sees me?" Yang read as she grew confused. Ruby was just staring at them, wondering if they mean anything. Blake turned the page Yang read from and found a little secret on the left side of the paper outside the red line.

"At the tower…" She trails off, lost out of her mind. What are they? Some form of hint at the discs?

"Hey, we're not gonna find out about anything unless we continue watching these. We'll watch a couple more of these, then we'll try and make sense out of them." Ruby suggested, the rest seemingly fine with the plan.

They all took their seats as Ruby pressed play. Weiss moved the tub of popcorn away from her blonde friend, who whined and crossed her arms in embarrassment.

The famous black screen appeared once more. White text appeared in the center:

 **Entry #3**

 **I am starting to notice a vast majority of the tapes are completely unrelated to Marble Hornets.**

 **At some point, it seems Alex began filming himself exclusively.**

 **The following clips are taken from roughly twelve tapes.**

"Twelve?! This guy has nothing better to do!" WY yelled out simultaneously, RB looking at them and covered their ears.

"Let's see how this one goes…" Blake drawled out, pretty nervous about this one.

The video cuts to footage of Alex sitting on a plain brown couch. The camera is focused on his knee and they cannot see what his hands are doing, but audible are noises of shuffling papers. A small visual tear appears on the bottom of the image. The tear disappears again. There is the sound of paper tearing. Alex places a piece of white paper on the couch beside him and pats it. Alex rises from the couch and exits the screen to the left. Visible on the couch back where he rose from are what appear to be crumpled newspapers. There are more sounds of shuffling paper for a moment, and then they stop. Alex returns from the left and sits down in the same place. The sounds of rustling paper continue.

The screen cuts to black. Ruby just looking as lost as ever, Weiss humming to herself at what could those newspapers could have been for, Blake shuffling in her seat, trying way too hard in figuring this one out, and Yang…

"What?"

footage of Alex pointing the camera out his window at twilight. The camera pans left and right over the foliage of a forest. The video cuts to black. The TV now cuts to white footage. This resolves as footage of the camera running from a first-person view in an electronics store. The camera approaches a section with packaged tapes hanging from rods. There is ambient noise that sounds like muffled store music and distant conversational speech. A hand comes into frame and goes to grab one package of tapes and pull it off the rack. It appears to be two 3-packs, Sony brand, labelled "DVC", priced at $23.00.

"A reasonable price." Weiss nods and crossed her arms in approval. "Really?" RBY all bluntly said.

Weiss huffed and all turned to the screen again. The camera pans left again and points to the floor. Alex's feet can be seen walking. He can be heard coughing or clearing his throat. The screen cuts to black and to footage of Alex staring intently offscreen, chin propped up in his hand. The four now grew plates for eyes. This is the first time they've ever seen Alex's face. Ruby smiled, seeing nothing wrong with him and that he's okay, Weiss curtly nodded at his appearance, Blake grinned at his cool and collected posture, and Yang whistling in acceptance.

The camera is tilted but stationary. Rough wooden walls, a desk lamp, a large window and a world map can be seen in the background. The window is dark. He brings both hands forward, and typing noises can be heard. He finishes typing and brings his hand back to his chin.

"A fast typer. He does look like someone who would work with computers." Blake mentioned in amazement, the rest agreeing just as the same.

"Nice alliteration there, Blakey." Yang complemented, impressed with her partner.

"Thank you."

He leans back and looks abruptly away from the camera. In the part of the frame he had been blocking before is visible a desk with various wires and containers on it, as well as the desk lamp from before. Alex is rocking back and forth slightly as he looks at the table, as if readjusting his seat. He looks back forward and down, and then away again, and reaches for the desk with the lamp. He retrieves something, returns to the foreground.

"He seems a bit...shaky. Almost as if he knows he's being watched or something." Ruby stated worryingly for Alex.

"Yes. There is something definitely wrong with him, the way he's acting right now." Weiss agreed, just as worried.

He holds up his hand to examine his watch. In his hand, there is a tape. He looks up from his watch and reaches for the camera. It cuts to black. Now cut to footage of a forest during the daytime. The camera is moving quickly over the foliage, left and right. It cuts to black again. It cuts to Alex with the camera propped up on the dashboard to watch him as he drives. It is nighttime. Trees and businesses can be seen passing on the side of the road. Orange street lamp lights passes over Alex periodically.

Ruby's eyes shined in concern for Alex at his stoic expression, like he's lost all life. Weiss was busy thinking how long has it been since these twelve tapes had took place. Blake is busy trying to put the pieces together from what she's seeing right now. It seems like Alex wanted to have the camera on him at all times, no matter what he's doing. Yang watched attentively, seemingly glued to what what's about to happen on the screen.

The screen cuts to black again.

Alex is looking out a window with slatted venetian blinds curiously. It is the same room as the one in which he was working on the computer, with the same window, rough-wood walls and map, but it appears to be daytime now. Alex pulls the blinds open here and there to get a better view outside. Ruby mentally shouting at him to step away from the window. His phone goes off. He steps back from the window and looks left, retrieving the phone from off-camera. He flips it open and closed; the ringing stops. He reaches for the camera, picking it up and moving it. As he moves it, Weiss and Blake paid attention to detail of the room. The camera picks up image of a messy room strewn with boxes and papers. At least one wall is dark grey brick. Various items can be seen in the mess: a black leather desk chair, an optical wireless mouse, another stand-up lamp, a garbage can, wires on the walls, and an electric fan.

The screen cuts to black. White text appeared on the center:

 **From what I have been seeing so far, many of these tapes could contain nothing substantial.**

 **Although it does seem that Alex wanted to have a camera on himself at all times.**

 **The clip from entry #1 is still the best lead I have so far.**

"Yeah, I was right!" Blake shouted in victory but sat down embarrassed when her teammates looked at her strangely. The video ended there.

"Right about what?" Yang asked her partner.

"It's just like the narrator said. Alex wanted to have the camera on himself at all times. I thought of the exact same theory when we saw him driving in his car with the camera still on him, even though it was completely unnecessary." Blake explained her idea, Yang _oh_ 'ed in acknowledgement.

"From what I gathered, the phone going off could have been an alarm set to remind Alex of a particular time, rather than a phone call. This would account for his behavior — shutting off the alarm rather than answering the phone, and then going straight to replacing the tape. I was beginning to wonder why the phone all of a sudden went off like it did so abruptly." Weiss offered her input.

"Oh, that's what it was. I thought he was just ignoring his friends. Or worse, his family." Ruby concluded sadly.

"Aw, Rubes...it couldn't have been that. I am one hundred percent sure that what Weiss said was true. It was just a little reminder for him to switch the tapes before the time went out on the current one." Yang assured her sister, who brightened up exponentially.

"Ok. How about the next one now?" Ruby asked, her team agreeing rather quickly. And with that, Ruby pressed play again.

The black screen was accompanied by the white text that was centered in the screen:

 **Entry #4**

 **I found another tape containing strange footage and no audio track.**

"Aw man. I was beginning to enjoy the ones with the audio." Yang whined, Ruby pouting alongside her.

Weiss rolled her eyes with Blake reassuring them, "It could be because these are the earlier tapes. I'm sure that if we go farther into the series, they will all be with audio."

They seemed to be happy with her assumption and glued their eyes to the screen.

We cut to some footage of a piece of playground equipment. It seems to be nighttime, but the area is lit with streetlights. The camera is moving as if the person holding it is walking. There is no audio, ambient or otherwise. The camera passes the first piece of playground equipment. It is panning across the rest of the playground, including a pair of seesaws and swings. Alex's shadow passes in front of him as he approaches a darker part of the playground, with the swings.

"Oh, I don't like the looks of that not one bit." Yang says shuddering as she clung to Ruby, who did the same. Weiss was a little put off at seeing the ominous scenery, and Blake grabbed a second pillow from her bed and hugged it. What's making it worse is that there's no audio.

He pauses at the swings; they are moving. There is a visual tear along the bottom of the screen. The tear resolves seconds later. Alex pans the camera down to his feet as he quickly begins to run the other direction, and then up again towards the seesaws. One has been pushed down.

The camera pans quickly right. It catches a figure running right. This figure is dressed in a black suit with no hair or facial features discernable. It passes behind a garbage can and in front of a street lamp.

Ruby screamed and ran to her bed and covered herself in her blankets, Weiss turning her head away from the screen in fright, Blake ran to the bathroom to use it, as she almost peed on herself from the scare, and Yang screamed even louder and ducked on the ground with her face in her seat. She quickly grabbed the remote and paused it as there was more and her half her team ran away from the TV and somewhere safe.

"Why is he chasing after that thing?! RUN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!" Weiss screamed at the paused video where Alex was chasing the figure through the park. Ruby lifted her face from her covers, whimpering loudly. The three heard a toilet flushing and water running from the sink. The water stopped seconds later and out came Blake, with her face and body tensed up.

"...Why?" She muttered before she sat right back down on her seat. She winced at the TV where Alex was paused in his running after the faceless man.

Yang got up and brought Ruby over to where her seat was and comforted her with back rubs, little red still with a horror-stricken face, not uttering a single word. She grabbed the remote and reluctantly pressed resume.

The camera pans quickly to the left again, losing the figure, but moves in the direction that the figure was going as if Alex is giving chase. It is pointed at the ground; Alex's feet can be seen moving at a running pace. The camera pans up again and to the right, catching the more distant end of the playground and another streetlight. It pans wildly right and left, but the figure does not become apparent again. The camera zooms out. In the foreground there are trees and a garbage can with a smiley face on it. The camera pans left again, and then down.

WBY shook their heads, seeing the figure had gotten away. Poor Ruby was scared out of her mind, but got the strength to sit up on her own. The screen cuts to black again as more white text appeared:

 **This and entry #1 are the only clips I have found that do not have sound.**

 **I am starting to suspect that Alex removed the audio himself.**

"No shit, dude." Yang said annoyingly. Seriously, that ignorance is going to get himself killed.

The video ended there with the team dumbstruck and a little bit scared. Yang saw Ruby shaking and she had every right to be. She was the only one who was sitting closer to the TV so she got a good look at the faceless oddity.

"These are really short. How about we take a break from them for at least an hour until Ruby recovers fully?" Weiss suggested, worried for her leader's health.

"Sounds like a plan. Come on Ruby, let's go into town." Yang offered, her sister nodding slightly as she grabbed Yang's hand and stood up shakily.

Meanwhile, Blake had recovered fully from that scare and then began to think deeply. Alex's odd behavior — wandering around a playground at night with a video camera, chasing after the figure he sees — suggest that this tape happens early in the show. Also, while the tall entity is on camera, it appears to move in the same style and at about the same speed as a human, but then is very rapidly gone when the camera loses sight of it.

She just really wants to know why Alex Kralie is so important to the faceless man.


	4. Entries 5 & 6

It's been an hour since team RWBY have watched the latest entry, number 4, and they are very confident in themselves to watch the rest now. They have returned from Vale and are now entering their dorm room.

"Ahhh~, thank you guys. I really needed that break." Ruby said comfortably.

"Now do you feel like watching more of this **Marble Hornets**? You seem fine now." Weiss asked her leader.

"Yes! Let's do this!" Ruby fist pumped the air in exaggeration, making her sister laugh.

"Yeah, that's the spirit! I'm looking forward to more myself!" Yang confessed.

"Well, it's not even noon yet, so we've got all evening." Blake pointed out.

"As much as I would like to keep up with my studying, that can wait for another day I suppose. So let's get to it." Weiss said as she sat back down on her seat in front of the TV.

The rest sat in their seats and Ruby grabbed the remote and pressed play once again to meet face-to-face with the black screen. The white text appeared on the center of the screen:

 **Entry #5**

 **Before Marble Hornets began production, I went location scouting with Alex.**

 **I filmed him talking about the locations he was interested in using.**

 **I came across one of the tapes containing this footage that has had its audio severely distorted.**

"I would really like to hear what the narrator sounds like. All we've been seeing was the white text he appears to use to communicate with us." Weiss admits, Yang agreeing.

"Yeah, I do too. Do you Ruby?" She asked her younger sister.

"Mhmm! Maybe this tape will give us an inkling as to what he sounds like?" The young leader said with her hopes high.

Meanwhile, Blake was thinking about what the narrator had said just then. The audio is severely distorted? So they're going to have a difficult time deciphering what's being said. But, why is the _audio_ distorted this time? All this time it's only been the visuals that had tears from here and there.

The video cuts to footage of Alex in a gazebo, looking at the camera. The gazebo is in shadowed dark, but outside it is daylight on a forest of skinny, smallish trees. The camera is moving slightly, as if it is held by hand.

The narrator: **"Alright, it's recording."**

"Was that the narrator behind the camera?" Ruby said quickly after pausing the video.

"It was. Man, I couldn't hear him all to well. And we don't even know his name either." Yang whined.

"Continue the tape. Maybe he'll talk a little more loudly next time and his name will be mentioned." Weiss told Ruby and Yang. Little red agreed and resumed it.

Alex looks away from the camera, and says: **"Okay, uh, this is the gazebo where I want Brian to come back and reflect later in the movie,"** Alex is moving around the gazebo, looking out into the trees, and the narrator follows him with the camera. Alex looks at the camera again and gestures with his hands, continuing, **"this'll probably be three-fourths of the way through."**

A visual tear also begins. The tear resolves itself. The angle drifts downwards, to the gazebo floor. The narrator says: **"This'll just be by himself right?"** He pans the camera left across the gazebo as he speaks. Alex leaves frame.

"Okay, so that's what he sounds like. Now I can replace his voice whenever we see the white text again!" Ruby exclaimed in victory, having already etched his voice into her memory.

"Alright, so they're beginning to talk about Alex's movie now. Alex seems okay and he doesn't appear to be shaken up anymore." Blake deduced.

"I can agree with you there. Maybe having someone with him eased his mind somewhat." Weiss offered, agreeing with Blake's deduction.

Camera pans back to Alex. Alex says: **"Yea. I'm thinking about maybe putting in a—"** Heavy audio distortion begins, a loud, heavy, uneven buzzing. The girls jumped a little at the sudden cut of the video. Ruby sunk into her seat and held her ears, Weiss cringed at the sound, Blake was covering her cat ears even though they were covered by her bow, and Yang flinched from the little scare but laughed, "Aw man. I can't believe that got me! I forgot that there was distortion in this one."

The camera pans to the ceiling of the gazebo. The camera pans back down to Alex, and then moves to look out at the forest over his shoulder. The autofocus takes a moment to readjust, rendering the frame momentarily blurry. Alex appears to be speaking, but the audio distortion blocks out any words. There is the slight suggestion of speaking in the way the audio fluctuates, but nothing even vaguely understandable.

"Yep, I knew it. We can't hear anything that they're saying." Blake complains.

The distortion changes quality. It is still noisy, but the sound is almost a rushing sound, like wind past a microphone, and it is slightly tiny. There is once again the vague suggestion of speech under the distortion. Alex is still speaking, and gesturing with his hands.

Alex pauses in his speech, looks at the camera, scratches his nose and gestures. The camera pans to the forested slope beyond.

The audio distortion abruptly ends. Normal audio cuts back in. Alex says: **"—and then we'll have 'em, like, reflect and decide to actually go back to Sarah to try and win her back."** The camera pans back to Alex.

"So this'll be a romantic slash drama kind of movie. Really odd to name something like a romance movie " **Marble Hornets** " Weiss said out of nowhere.

Alex continues: **"Um, and we've a good number of shots here. We have the stream down there, um, and—"** He points towards the stream.

The camera pans towards the stream and zooms. Audio distortion cuts back in. It is a third kind, sounding similar to the 'rushing' noise, but sharper. The suggestion of speech underneath is stronger, but still difficult to decipher.

"That one wasn't as bad as the first one, thankfully." Ruby says in relief.

"Yeah. Thank goodness. I did not need a second one." Yang agreed with her sister.

"What are you doing Blake?" Weiss asked the cat faunus.

"I'm just leaning in closer to hear what they're saying. This distortion isn't as bad as the first one, but I'm still having trouble hearing them." Blake said while on her hands and knees and her head turned so her ears can pick up the conversation better.

The camera zooms away from the stream again, and slowly pans back to Alex. The audio distortion changes. It is similar to the first kind once more. Alex is talking, but it is obscured.

The camera pans to the slope again. The left channel of audio is fluctuating in volume. The kind of fluctuations suggests that the cameraman is speaking as well, and that it is also obscured. The camera pans back and forth between the slope and the gazebo a number of times.

The audio distortion cuts out. The narrator is speaking: **"—area it's very, I dunno, secluded I guess."** It cuts to footage of a forest floor. The camera pans upward. Alex is standing on a pinecone-strewn, but cleared forest floor.

The narrator speaks: **"Alright."**

"Oh, a different location. I wonder where they live. Maybe far away from civilization where they can film in peace." Weiss rants.

Alex responds: **"Alright. This is going to be near Sarah's hunting camp, uhh."**

There is a visual tear along the bottom of the screen as Alex speaks. The tear resolves. Alex continues, walking left: **"Over there's where we're gonna do the bonfire scene, over by the fireplace…"**

"There it is again! Those tears in the video." Ruby pointed out.

"Those seem to be frequent, but what do they mean? Are the tapes that old?" Yang asked her team, who couldn't possibly know. What year were the characters in?

"Oh, I know!" Weiss exclaims, gaining her team's attention. She continues, "The introduction. The narrator said "After three years and zero contact with Alex…" Since the filming didn't take place until 2006, add three years later, then you have 2009."

"Woah! I hope they confirm it themselves in some way." Ruby said with a cute smile.

The camera pans left, the way Alex was gesturing. There are a firepit and several logs perhaps twenty feet away.

The narrator says: **"Yup."** He pans back to Alex. Alex says: **"Uh, I also want to have a—"** The narrator coughs here, **"—shot of the next day where uh,"** Audio distortion cuts in. It is tiny and light. Alex can still be heard speaking through it, and he sounds louder. Alex continues: **"Sarah and Brian, and I might also have Tim there at some point, are sitting around thinking about the past, you know, just…"**

"Another distortion. Well, at least we can still hear him." Yang says happily.

"Sarah, Brian, and Tim. Maybe they're the characters in their movie?" Ruby said unsurely.

"Of course they are ,you dunce. That's why they're talking about them." Weiss insulted Ruby, the latter sticking her tongue out at the heiress immaturely.

Again, Blake was in thought, ' _Tim…_ '

The narrator pans left again as Alex speaks. The camera pauses on a shot of the tall trees of this part of the forest. A red structure can be seen across a sunlit field a good distance away.

"Woah, what is that?!" Ruby points at the screen.

"It looks like...a tower…" Weiss trails off. The four turn their heads to the papers on their nightstand. Could it…?

The narrator says: **"Yeah."** Alex continues: **"talking about—"** The audio distortion ends. **"—days gone by. Um, I really like this place since we have the tree line that basically blocks off our entire shooting area and we have these really tall trees right in the middle which personally I just think are really cool."** The narrator pans up the tree trunks as Alex speaks, and then back down to Alex.

The narrator pans left again. He says: **"What's that tall, red thing over there?"** As he speaks he zooms in on the red tower, partially obscured by trees. He zooms out again in chunks. Alex says: **"Yeah, thats like an old climbing wall, or—I can't remember if it was a climbing wall or a fire department—"**

Heavy audio distortion sets in again, buzzing and irregular. Suggestions of speech are audible behind it again. Ruby and Yang flinched a little at the distortion, Weiss barely moved a muscle, and Blake was already preparing herself for another cut in the audio. The camera pans back to Alex. Louder fluctuations of distortion suggest that the narrator is saying something. He pans back to the tower and zooms in again as Alex speaks, and then says one word and zooms out.

He pans back to Alex, looking towards the red tower. The audio distortion ends. Alex says, and points in the general direction of the tower: **"—although I wish that tall grass were all level or we had more of this kinda rubbly stuff over here."** The narrator says, **"Yeah."** He pans to the field again and then back to Alex. Alex: **"I'm sure we can work our way around it."** He is looking at the camera.

The screen cuts to black. Ruby breathed in and out, thanking someone out there that it's finally over. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all felt a little better now that it's over while waiting for some form of clarity because of the distortion.

 **In addition to the audio distortion, there have also been numerous instances of visual tearing.**

 **I've noticed these occurring in previous entries as well.**

"See! There had to be some hidden meaning behind all those visual tears!" Ruby cheered.

"Let's just hope that it is something good to help clarify our questions." Weiss hoped.

Cut to footage from Entry 1, showing the tear that occurred at the lamp. It is labelled along the bottom with white text, "Entry #1". Cut to black.

Cut to footage from Entry 3, of the tear that occurs at Alex tearing paper. This clip is labelled "Entry #3". Cut to black.

Cut to footage from Entry 4, of the tear that occurs at the camera pointing at some swingsets. This clip is labelled "Entry #4".

"Well, that was meaningless. Maybe he'll talk more about them in later entries." Blake said in disappointment. The screen cuts to black. White text appears:

 **It is possible that I missed other occurrences of this in tapes that I have already watched.**

"Nope, I think you've got 'em all, buddy." Yang said.

The video ends there. Ruby leaned back and stretched her arms and legs, spreading them apart while speaking up, "That one was a bit longer than the ones we've seen so far."

"Yeah. Hopefully there'll be even longer ones in the future. So Blakey, what do you have for us this time?" Yang asked her partner, who looked down and searched for something.

"Well…" She reached over and swiped the paper with the tower on it, "the tower in the tape could lead to this paper. It looks vaguely familiar to the one in the tape."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess we'll just have to watch more in order to fully understand the purpose behind the papers. We still got a whole stack of them." Her blonde friend agreed.

"Weiss? Anything…?" Ruby turned to her partner.

Weiss shrugged and spoke, "Well, it may not be of much help, but the fact that this clip involves location-scouting and appears to be before the filming of **Marble Hornets** , the student movie, even started suggest that this was very early in the tapes. It is possible that this is the earliest clip."

"That is something. Maybe that's the reason why Alex isn't all scared and jumpy like we've seen him do." Blake agreed with the heiress, thinking along the same lines.

"Maybe one more? I'm pretty sure I can handle anything they throw at us now and after all these clues and observations, I'm a little excited in finding out more about the show." Ruby said in glee. After having watching the first several tapes, her eyes have been exposed to some pretty deep stuff. Stuff that she didn't even think to see in her life. Besides, she liked learning new things.

"I must admit, I am very interested in seeing more. Why not?" Weiss says, much to her partner's happiness.

"Yeah, I guess I do too." BY said together. They both laughed at their habit in talking at the same. Opposites do attract.

They all sat back down and resumed the videos. The dreaded black screen greeted them once more. White text appears centered on the screen:

 **Entry #6**

 **I found the following clip at the beginning of a new tape.**

 **This could be the continuation of entry #1, which took place at the end of a tape.**

"Oh no! That's where that creep scared me last time! I regret my decision!" Ruby screamed in fear and quite adorably.

Weiss and Blake prepared to retreat in case anything jumps out at them. Yang stayed close to her sister. If there's a continuation for anything, that means that it will only be more awesome or worse. In this case, worse.

Footage of a dark room begins. Visible are the faint outlines of a small arc of windows as would be present on a front door. It appears to be nighttime outside. No audio is present, ambient or otherwise. The camera moves fitfully, approaching the door. The camera approaches a window to the right of the door and looks out, first right, catching a yard and a silver car, then left, catching the brick edge of the doorway, then quickly right again.

"I am already hating this!" The heiress yelled.

The camera turns left again towards the door. The camera catches a figure to the left of the frame. It appears to be the tall, faceless man. It seems to be walking towards the door and the window out which the camera is looking. The camera pans very quickly away from the window, down and to the left.

"What are you? An idiot? Move away from the window!" Yang yelled at the screen, hoping for Alex to hear her. RWB flinching at the sight of him. Weiss is coughing viciously, Ruby and Blake patting and rubbing her back in comfort.

' _Why do I keep coughing…?'_ The heiress asks herself.

The footage continues, but after a small dot of light swoops about, it is entirely black for several seconds. The windows of a door are once again visible from afar, maybe fifteen feet away.

A bright light appears to approach the windows of the door. The faceless man's head can be seen slowly moving into the window, reflecting the light of the front porch. The camera pans quickly in and then back out as the tall figure moves slowly across, having to bend to get its head level with the window.

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God!" Ruby said, hugging her sister who was more than happy to reciprocate.

"Make it stop! ***cough***!" Weiss demanded, covering her eyes and mouth.

Blake was clutching her pillow in comfort. She's never seen anything like him before. Tall, dark, faceless, scary as all hell. Just what the hell is that?!

The tall figure's head is no longer visible through the window, though its arm continues to pass in front, as if it were braced against or holding onto the door. The man can be seen intermittently passing in front of the window to the right of the door. The screen cuts to black and the video ends.

Ruby immediately stopped it from moving on to the next tape. Weiss got up to clear her throat in the restroom. Blake slammed the pillow on the floor and screamed in her hands, seemingly fed up with the tall figure, "What did Alex ever do to that thing?! What does Alex have that it wants?!"

"Blake, calm down. Remember, Alex still has people he can go to. Those people who play those three characters in his movie and the narrator are his friends. Maybe he goes to them for answers." Yang tried to help out her friend.

"Yang, that's not possible. These tapes take place way before Alex left. The narrator just found the tapes and it will only be a matter of time before he catches up to Alex, and I'm afraid of what will happen then." Ruby said logically, hugging herself.

The door to the restroom opened and Weiss came back, freshened up and with a glass of water.

"I don't know what came over me. That cough just came out of nowhere." The heiress said tiredly, taking a sip of the water she had with her.

"These are just getting worse and worse by the minute. I could only imagine what happens in the future." Yang said while putting her face in her hands.

"Ruby. Play it." Blake demanded of her leader from inside her palms.

"Uh...Blake. I don't think Weiss is in any condition to-" The scythe-wielder was cut off from her partner's arm in front of her face.

"Ruby. Play it," Weiss commanded, "I want this tall miscreant dead."

Ruby gulped at the tones of WB and gave in to their wish and resumed it. Yang was sitting there, with a small frown on her face.

' _What has this show done to us?'_


	5. Entries 7 & 8

"These are just getting worse and worse by the minute. I could only imagine what happens in the future." Yang said while putting her face in her hands.

"Ruby. Play it." Blake demanded of her leader.

"Uh...Blake. Weiss is in no condition to-" The scythe-wielder was cut off from her partner's arm in front of her face.

"Ruby. Play it," Weiss commanded, "I want this tall miscreant dead."

Ruby gulped at the faces of WB and gave in to their wish and resumed it. Yang was sitting there, with a small frown on her face.

 _'What has this show done to us?'_

The black screen is back once again. The white text appears centered on the screen:

 **Entry #7**

 **The tape I just watched consisted entirely of raw footage from Marble Hornets.**

 **Other than Brian, Alex also seems to be talking to a girl off camera at one point.**

"A girl? Is it that Sarah girl he mentioned in number 5?" Ruby asked her sister, who merely shrugged in response.

"It might not be. Considering that the narrator would've said that girl who is playing Sarah's name there." Weiss countered.

"But Brian? Isn't that the other character's name?" Yang asked either one of her teammates.

"It could be his real name. I know a couple of actors who play their roles with their real name." The cat replied.

Footage of Brian sitting in a car, looking forward and down is shown. The camera is pointed at him from the driver's seat and he is in the passenger's seat. Behind him is visible a street and part of an alley. Yang whistled and purred at his physique. RWB rolled their eyes at Yang's obvious reaction. Alex moves the camera away from Brian, tilting it about 45 degrees. Alex says: **"Let's start again."** Brian says, gesturing toward himself, **"Let's start again. Sorry."** He is looking at the camera and grinning a little.

"So, were they practicing beforehand? It seems like they were…" Weiss trailed off in thought.

"Alex sounded a little mad there." Ruby frowned in concern.

The camera returns to filming Brian, upright and level. Brian bites his lower lip.

"He's making this so hard for me right now~." Yang purred, getting odd looks from her team.

It cuts to footage of the same scene. Brian is pointing at the camera. Brian says, **"So I look at you?"** He brings his hand down and looks forward again.

Alex: **"Yeah that's fine. Alright, I'm rolling, and uh, just a second let me…"** The camera jostled a little. Brian sighs, puts his hand to his head and rubs the bridge of his nose. The video cuts to the same scene. Brian is biting his lip again. He looks at the camera and says, gesturing behind him with a thumb, **"I thought you were talking to her."**

"I'm a little bit lost…" Blake muttered loud enough for her team to hear.

"What are they doing? Are they going over the play or what?" Weiss said under her breath, getting impatient.

The camera turns towards the dashboard, jostling. Alex says, **"No. Crap, I just lost the script."** Alex swings the camera left and down as he opens the driver's side door. Something, probably his keys, falls to the pavement. Alex retrieves his keys and turns the camera back into the car, upside down.

"What in the hell is going on?" Yang threw her hands to the side, almost hitting Ruby who dodged it with her fast reflexes.

"Why did he...have the door open?" Blake asked confused.

"Maybe it's hot where they're sitting?" Ruby suggested.

The video cuts to Brian sitting in the passenger's seat again. The camera is jostling slightly. Brian is grinning. Alex says, **"And I'm talking to Brian."** Brian laughs. A visual tear occurs along the bottom of the screen. Brian leans forward in mirth, still laughing. The tear resolves. Alex: **"Yeah, don't say anything because the camera picks it up. Alright, you ready?"** Brian sighs.

"Okay, something must've happened before that and that's why Brian laughed out of nowhere. Why did it cut?" Weiss ranted again.

"What could Alex be hiding from us?" Blake asked herself. Was it the girl behind them who spoke that made Alex respond that way? Maybe that's why it cut.

Brian: **"Yeah, are you going to feed me Tim's lines?"** Alex: **"Uh, yeah, just second."** The camera shifts view as he retrieves the script. The autofocus blurs for a moment. The camera rights itself. Alex: **"Alright, action."** Brian sighs, then says, **"I don't know, this town just doesn't feel the same to me anymore. I missed it so much when I was in college. But now that I'm back, I just feel like a depressed teenager all over again, stuck in a loop of unhappiness."**

" **Maybe you've grown up** /Maybe you've grown up." Weiss and Alex said at the same time. Ruby and Yang looked at Weiss with starry-eyed faces and Blake smirking at the heiress.

Weiss blushed and defended herself, "I just have experience, alright?" She referenced her return to Atlas, seeing how it had changed since the invasion on Beacon.

"Whatever you say, Weiss-cream~!" Yang teased, the heiress flushing.

Brian: **"I don't know, maybe this town has grown up."** Alex: **"Maybe it has."** Brian sighs. Alex: **"Alright, good."** Brian leans back, revealing the alleyway that his head had previously blocked. There is a figure that appears to be the tall man at the far end of the alley, partially concealed by the alley's wall.

"Oh my God...I can't." Blake said hurriedly in fear, crab walking backwards away from the TV. Ruby hid her eyes quickly, Yang took a sharp intake of air and steeled herself and kept looking, Weiss not at all scared, but felt that little raspy feeling in the back of her throat, getting the urge to cough.

Brian looks at Alex and says, **"Are we going to do it again?"** Brian repeats: **"Are we?"** Alex: **"No, we're done."** The camera pans left, to the dashboard. Brian, off-camera: **"That's it?"** Alex: **"Yeah, we're done."** The camera continues to move, catching the steering wheel. Keys jingling can be heard. Brian, offscreen: **"Okay…"**

Alex starts the car. Loud, buzzing audio distortion sets in. The video cuts to black. White text appears centered on the screen:

 **Someone was following Alex.**

"No, don't say it like that! It only adds to the creepy factor!" Yang whined, complaining about how creepy the narrator had put it saying that someone was following Alex.

The video ends there and RWBY were silent, unmoving and dead quiet. Eventually, Blake shuffled back to the front of the room where the TV was and sat there, with no words. Her eyes were closed and she breathed hard, "That was not bad as the other appearances."

"Yeah, he just stood there. Not moving creepily or peeking through random people's doors and windows." Ruby listed off, scared for her dad who was sitting alone at home.

"Okay, how about the next one will drive our attention away from this one. Maybe it will be about Alex and the narrator location scouting again? Maybe…?" Yang desperately hoped. There's power in numbers.

"Yeah, here's hoping that it is that." Ruby pressed resume and they all paid attention to the screen. Weiss clearing her throat before she does, though.

The black screen appears with the white text appearing also, centered on the screen:

 **Entry #8**

 **I did not notice any visual tearing anywhere in this tape. However, the audio does cut out.**

"Maybe that's a good sign. And even if the audio does cut out, we'll know it was Alex instead of someone else." Ruby reasoned, trying to make light of the situation.

They all seemed to be satisfied with that answer and continued on with the tape.

It cuts to footage of Alex, his face just barely in the top of the frame, leaning over a table covered in pieces of paper with writing and images on them. He is scribbling in a coil-bound notebook with a piece of charcoal. The scrawled drawings are of an ellipse with an X through it, some of which are attached to a body. Words like "SEES", "SEES ME", "FINDS ME", "SPEAKS TO ME", "TREE", "Trees", "HI", and " **[unreadable]** THESE PINES" cover the pages.

The four gapped and turned their heads to the nightstand once more before pausing the video and taking papers off of it.

"These are all of the papers in the video. Look, "SEES" and "SPEAKS TO ME" are here." Ruby says, holding up the two pages enthusiastically.

"I have "TREE" right here." Says the heiress.

"We have "FINDS ME" and "HI" over here." BY holds up the two papers. They brought them over to their seats and pressed play.

Several of the images seem to be of the faceless man, who appears to be a stick figure with long arms drooping down and an X through his face. To the left of that drawing is a picture of the tall man standing next to a pine tree. Below him is written the word "Trees". Alex is scribbling the letters "H E L" on a notepad.

"W-What...what is he doing drawing that THING! What's gotten into Alex?!" Weiss screamed at the TV. Is Alex aware of the situation now and is worshipping him by drawing pictures of him? Can he not do anything else other than this?!

Ruby and Yang's eyes were split open in absolute fear and worry for Alex's mental health. Why is he drawing something so evil? Blake was the most shocked, having wanted to kill the man herself. What does "H E L" mean? Help?

The audio cuts out. Alex stops scribbling and stays still. Alex gets up abruptly. He picks up the camera, and pans up and to the left, bringing the frame into total darkness. The camera approaches a lamp with a yellow shade. The lamp turns off. The frame is once again black. White text appears centered on the screen:

 **The rest of the tape remains too dark to see and the audio never comes back.**

The video ends there. Ruby and Yang never recovered from their state, Weiss fuming at Alex now, thinking he's going to join the atrocious figure, and Blake's hair shadowing her eyes. You could hear the faintest of whispering, _"Why?"_

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Yeah. This story is no way canon, but it does take place after Vol. 3. A more happier version.**


	6. Entry 9 & Regards

All was silent in the usually loud hallways of Beacon for one reason only: Alex Kralie.

Back in team RWBY's room, the four girls were sitting at the front of the room in front of the TV, all with horror-stricken faces at the new revelation that rocked their world. The seemingly normal college boy Alex Kralie just acted out of character for as long as they've known him to be.

 _"Why?"_ Blake whispered to herself. Yang seemed to have noticed her depression and couldn't help but hug her close to one arm.

"Blake, everything is fine."

Blake sank into her embrace and calmed down a tiny bit. Ruby shook off the shocking news and resumed the tapes, hoping something good will come from it. Weiss' red face decreased drastically and willed herself to watch.

That annoying black screen appeared with the white text appears centered on the screen:

 **Entry #9**

 **I have never seen Alex act the way he does in the following raw footage from Marble Hornets.**

"Is that good...or bad?" Ruby shut her eyes,hoping for good.

Yang sighed and figured nothing will answer their desperate plea for at least one good thing to come from this. Blake shook her head in her hands. Weiss looked on impassively.

It cuts to footage of Tim and Sarah in a gazebo. Tim is leaning against the railing and Sarah is standing, facing him. Tim is speaking: **"— seems really distant ever since he came back, you know?"** Sarah spreads her hands and says, **"And?"** Tim: **"I mean, have you talked to him at all?"** He gestures with a hand. Sarah: **"No."** She shakes her head. She is fidgeting with something in her hands, or possibly just her hands.

"Ooh! He could possibly be my new favorite~!" Yang said flirtatiously, making light of the situation. The rest couldn't disagree. This Tim character does look quite handsome…

They blushed and shook off those thoughts. What were they thinking? Even Ruby couldn't help but think he was good looking. Blake kept a close eye on Tim, memorizing his look. For two reasons. One is that since she's heard his name, she knew that he would be somewhat crucial to the story. And two...well...he looks cute. Blake shook her head and blushed.

Tim: **"Well, uh…did he come back because of you? Because he never told me why he was here."** Sarah: **"Doesn't really matter, does it? He left me when he went off to the city and that's that."** She looks away from Tim vaguely, a little more in the direction of the camera. Tim: **"Yeah, yeah. I guess you're right."** Tim takes a cigarette box out of his right pocket. Sarah is examining her hand idly.

"Ugh...figures. A smoker. Already a negative in my book." Weiss criticizes. Why do all of the cute ones have to be bad in one way or another?

"You know I don't care whatsoever." Yang shamelessly says, Weiss rolling her eyes. Ruby and Blake still watching Tim as he continues smoking his cigarette.

 _"Who are you, Tim?"_ The two whispered to themselves, unknowingly from each other. They couldn't help the slightest suspicion that he's important in some way; they don't know yet.

Tim: **"So. I mean what's… what's…what's the plan now for you? What's next?"** Tim takes out a cigarette and brings it to his mouth. Sarah sighs, and says: **"I'm not really going to do anything."** Tim takes out a lighter and lights his cigarette. Alex, from offscreen: **"We're going to do it again."** Both Sarah and Tim look at him. **"The pacing still feels weird, it's…it doesn't sound like a conversation."**

Weiss, for the first time, narrowed her eyes in hatred at the sound of Alex's voice. Ruby, impervious to her stare, looked to her.

"They sounded okay to me." Ruby said, completely confused.

"You don't watch a lot of live action plays, do you?" Weiss rhetorically asked, still pissed.

"Why would I when everything else is better than sappy stage dramas?" Ruby answered back with a question, as if saying _'duh'_.

Yang chuckled at her little sister's personality while Blake glanced to the side and see them bickering, not reacting whatsoever.

Alex moves on screen from the right. Tim puts his cigarettes back in his pocket. Alex: **"You guys still sound like you're reading off the script. Let's just… just have a conversation. Let's do it again!"** Fed up, Tim says to Sarah: **"Still? Still! Eight takes. Still."** Tim lights his cigarette again.

"Why is Alex so mean now?" Ruby asked, on the verge of tears. Yang consoled her by dragging a jar of cookies from a drawer and giving them to her. She took one tentatively, before wolfing them down one by one.

"Eight takes...do these guys even want to act in this movie?" Weiss asked Blake, who could only shake her head and shrug.

Children can be heard playing in the background. Tim, cigarette in his mouth: **"Can we go yet?"** Alex, off screen: **"Action."** Children can still be heard running about.

"What are children doing there? Are they gonna be safe?" Ruby asked again, worried if the faceless man will attack them there with the children running around innocently.

"Time will tell. We're just gonna have to finish this one." Yang told her baby sister.

Alex: **"Well, no. No we can't. Just a second."** Tim: **"Well, yeah. That's… wonderful."** Sarah: **"That's what happens when you plan on a public place."** She brushes hair out of her face. Tim takes a drag. Alex can be heard sighing, and the camera adjusts. Tim: **"Good thing I didn't have anything to do later today."** Sarah: **"Yeah, I know. Twelve to one, yeah right."**

"They're a mix of different personalities so it's kind of hard to follow, but Tim and this Sarah girl are getting pretty upset with Alex with the way he's acting." Yang brings to the table.

"The narrator did mention that in the introduction. Alex's film crew we're getting tired of having to deal with Alex and his attitude. I can see why now." Blake adds to Yang.

"You know, I kind of see Weiss when I look at Sarah." Ruby says randomly, gaining the white heiress' attention.

"And why is that?" Weiss asks carefully.

"She looks well-rounded and strong; very confident in herself and doesn't put up with anyone's shit. So yeah, she's you Weiss." Yang

Weiss actually blushed at this, taking it as some form of compliment, "Uh...thank you?"

Alex, interrupting Sarah: **"Why would you have anything to do anyway? You knew you were coming on set. You knew this could take a while. And obviously it is."** Tim, overlapping Alex: **"Yeah, it was supposed to be an afternoon shoot though."** Alex sighs. He says: **"If you guys would do it right the FIRST TIME, we wouldn't have to…"** Tim, overlapping Alex: **"It was an afternoon shoot, I didn't even buy lunch."** Sarah, overlapping Tim: **"Let's just do it again! Let's just do it again."** Alex, overlapping Sarah: **"Let's just do it again. Just stop."**

As this was going on, RWBY switched their eyes on and off of Tim and where Alex's voice came from on the screen, figuring out where this is going. Ruby hoping the tape would end already, Weiss really wanted to sock Alex in the face, Blake paid attention to Tim and his character, and Yang listening in on the fight just like normal.

Tim: **"Alright."** Alex: **"Action."** Tim: **"He seems really distant ever since he came back, you know?"** Alex, interrupting: **"Cut. From the beginning."** Tim sighs and goes to stand up, and Sarah throws her hands down. It cuts to the same scene. Tim is sitting back down and Sarah is fiddling with her hands again. The person, behind the camera: **"Rolling."**

"Oh no…" Weiss mutters, Blake feeling the same. Why did the cameraman stop the recording? Ruby and Yang were looking at their teammates in confusion. What's so bad about the camera being off?

Alex, offscreen: **"What? Rolli…"** Sarah throws her hands down and she and Tim look at one another. Alex: **"Did you not have it recording during the break?"** Sarah leans in to apparently say something to Tim. Alex continues: **"I told you to keep the camera recording at ALL TIMES. Ohhh…how long was it off?"** Tim and Sarah are talking quietly in the background. Cameraman: **"I forgot for a second."** Tim and Sarah look right, towards Alex. Alex: **"You forgot. I…I gave you one job. All you were supposed to do was come in here, set up the camera, make sure it doesn't fall over, and press record ONCE. You don't stop it at all. I made this extremely clear."** Sarah and Tim exchange an exasperated look, then Sarah looks intently in Alex's direction.

"I wonder what was so bad about having the camera off. Wouldn't that have saved time on the tape so Alex wouldn't have to buy more and save money?" Ruby told her sister, who seemed to went along with what Ruby had said.

Sarah: **"Is this…hey, is this going to be on for a while? Can I get a script again?"** She reaches off camera, fidgeting with her hair. The man moves onto frame from behind the camera. He hands Sarah a script, and then looks to the right, towards Alex. Cameraman: **"Just saving time on the tapes."** Sarah and Tim are looking at the script together.

"Yeah, see? He was just saving time." Ruby said proudly.

"Maybe. But…" Blake was unsure of the idea. Didn't Alex have like tons of tapes?

Alex: **"Savi….you helped me load up the car!"** Alex moves on screen from the right. Alex: **"You know how many tapes we have. If we run out of time on this tape,"** Alex waves to the camera with a piece of paper and then his hand, and continues, **"we'll get another. It's not a problem. I mean, how clear do I have to make it before you listen?"**

"Oh. I still don't get why he wants the camera on them every second…" Ruby trails off in surprisingly deep thought. Yang is glancing at Blake to make sure she is alright. Thankfully, she's paying attention to the fight.

"Why are Tim and Sarah looking back at the forest behind them occasionally? What's there…?" Weiss mutters worryingly. It's not back there, is it?

The cameraman moves offscreen again, and so does Alex. Tim stands up. Alex: **"I mean…get off…You brought your dog!? How many…how many sense is that?"** Sarah, abruptly looking up and to the right: **"Guys, calm down."** Alex, offscreen: **"Memorize your lines."** Sarah: **"It was just a mistake."** Alex: **"Memorize your lines, maybe we'll get through this a little bit faster."** Sarah looks slowly back down at the paper.

"Hey! Don't be mean to the doggy!" Ruby shouts, Weiss agreeing wholeheartedly. Why is he getting mad at the pooch?

Tim, mocking Alex: **"Memorize your lines, just don't…just don't read them right off the page."** Sarah, sarcastically: **"Oh, okay."** Tim: **"You gotta be a little more… human with it, don't be so…"** Sarah: **"Because I've had the script in every scene."** Tim: **"Exactly."** Tim sits back down. Alex: **"Yeah, you know, act. How 'bout that?"** Sarah whips her head around to look at Alex and crosses her arms.

"Maybe that thing's still following him...you know? To the point where it is affecting who he is?" Yang offered to the table, Blake and Weiss stopping what they were doing and looks at Yang.

"That…might not be wrong. It could still be stalking him and he's up all night checking if it's still there, just watching him. Losing sleep can turn you into something not to be proud of." Weiss said, taking a glance towards Blake, who crossed her arms and blushed in embarrassment.

"That was nothing compared to what's happening here. Alex has it worse than I did." She countered, trying to defend herself.

Tim: **"Oh yeah yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's real nice. You know, considering how much you're paying us and everything.** " Alex: **"Why would I pay you for what you're giving me? I mean, really."** Tim: **"Oh that's… yeah, that's real nice."** Sarah: **"Who else is going to work with you with this attitude?"** Alex sighs, offscreen, and says: **"Look, I'm sorry—"**

"Oh, now you're sorry?" Weiss says, irritated with Alex. Ruby sighs and continues to listen. Perhaps this will be a turning point in someway for the four?

Tim: **"Yeah, you spent so much money on tapes you can't afford actors anyway."** Sarah turns around, arms still crossed, and turns away from the camera. Alex sighs again, and says: **"Let's just get it done with, alright? Let's just get it done. I'm sorry, just don't stop recording, it's not a problem. Plenty of tapes."** Sarah turns around again. Cameraman: **"Okay, fine. Sorry."**

"Why is this so hard for everyone? Tim, Sarah, and the poor cameraman were under Alex's banter, Alex is still being chased by that thing, and we still cannot believe that Alex would ever think to draw and write about that atrocious monstrosity of a man!" Weiss rants, Yang agreeing with her.

"Exactly. It's not good for everyone. It makes me wonder where that Brian guy went." Yang says to herself. Shouldn't he be there with him?

"Guys, the video's not over yet." Ruby points out, the black screen appearing and white text centered on the screen:

 **Alex seems to have been filming himself constantly even before he stopped work on Marble Hornets.**

 **Whoever had been following Alex seems to have stressed him to the point of it affecting his personality.**

"Well, you were right Yang. That thing really did break Alex somewhat." Ruby says, congratulating her sister.

"Well, since it's going to be a thing now, it seems like Alex is angry that the cameraman stopped recording for a couple of minutes, much like the opposite of what he would do. This could mean he still expects that faceless man to come after him no matter the situation or location." Blake deduced, garnering looks of understanding from RY.

"Right, because Alex always filmed himself when he thought the figure was watching him. Ugh...the idea of someone watching you twenty-four seven just gave me the chills." Yang hugged herself due to the sudden coldness.

The girls all flinched and jumped from their seats at the TV turning on.

A black screen appeared. The audio is a heavy distortion, relatively low-pitched. A 12x12 rectangle of white slashes appear. It flashes three times: long, long, short, each less than a second.

"What...in...the...living...hell?" Yang mutters in total fear and confusion. Ruby fell on her back from the surprise distortion. Weiss' eyes cringed and closed her eyes with her trying to open them as best as she can, but with great effort, and Blake narrowing her eyes at the multiple slashes on the screen.

The audio distortion changes to something slightly higher-pitched and continues to fluctuate periodically throughout the video. A 15x15 rectangle of slashes appears, which flashes three times: long, short, long.

"Something's going on. I don't know what, and I really don't want to know." Yang says, putting her hands up.

"What are those slashes for?" Ruby questions to herself. It looks like some sort of puzzle to her.

Weiss and Blake were wondering what this video were trying to tell them. The loud and heavy distortion and the flashing symbols weren't really helping.

An 11x11 rectangle of slashes appears which flashes four times: long, long, short, long.

"There's three of them, so do I have to…" Blake went over in her head, trying really hard in figuring this one out.

The following appears, centered on the screen in white text:

 **C**

 **LO**

 **SE**

 **LY**

"Closely? What does that even…?" Ruby says in confusion. This is really starting to hurt her head. And the music is sort of scary. Yang isn't looking to good either. Weiss was rubbing her eyes, getting the blinding light out of them.

The audio cuts out with the video ending there. Ruby sits there, stumped and worried about the hidden message it might be telling them. Yang feeling the same as her sister, but more on the lines of this weird video being in the pile of tapes. This isn't one of the entries, so this must be someone else. Weiss is blinking the irritation out of her eyes, still thinking about the message as well.

"It might be something akin to a code." Blake said to herself, before scurrying to her bookshelf, her teammates looking at her. She drew out a piece of paper and a pen and placed it on the nightstand.

"I might be right or wrong, but I can at least try. Okay, If I count the number of forward slashes either across or down, I can use the A=1 code to find my letters. So…" She turned to Ruby who had the remote, "Ruby, can you play that video again, from the beginning."

"Uh, okay…." Ruby said, confused at Blake's sudden mood. What did she find out?

The video played again as Blake counted all the slashes, writing them down, "12...15...11. So, I revert the numbers to their letter counterparts, which gives me L, O, and K. LOK...hmm...LOOK! Paired with the final image, our whole message is LOOK CLOSELY!" Ruby gasped and clapped at Blake's genius, Yang laughed at Blake's obsession with the show, and Weiss blinking owlishly at Blake's fast work.

"So, what do you think it's trying to tell us, Blakey?" Yang questioned her partner.

"This short clip may serve as a sort of salutation, alerting us—the viewers—to the nature of this creepy show in general. It warns us that not everything can be taken at face value, and if you spend time trying to get a deeper look, you might be able to dig up some answers." Blake told them.

"Which is exactly what you just did. Well done, Blake. I expected nothing less." Weiss congratulated Blake, the cat blushing.

"So, if we _look closely_ , we may just find little easter eggs in the video or maybe some big answer?" Ruby asked, Blake nodding at her question.

"Okay, so...wanna look at some more. Maybe we can _look closely_ the rest of the way. We can't let this show beat us!" Yang exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.

"Yeah! Alright team RWBY, let's show this show who's boss! Nothing will stand in our way! Banzai!" Ruby pumped a fist in the air with Yang, Blake joining.

"Banzai!" The three looked expectantly at the heiress, who sighed and got up with them.

"Banzai…"

"Thank you, Weiss."


	7. Entries 10, Operator, & 11

"Are we good to watch some more? I'm just checking." Ruby makes sure of her team's condition to keep on watching, whom agreed quickly to the question.

"I won't let this show beat me at their own game. I'm ready." Weiss says confidently.

"Let's hurry and get back into it." Blake says with a smirk.

"You know I'm always ready." Yang states with high energy.

Ruby smiled and clicked play on her remote and sat down in her seat with the rest of her team. They made a promise to steel themselves during anything that goes wrong and will pay closer attention to the clips.

The black screen made its return on their TV once again with the white text appears centered on the screen:

 **Entry #10**

 **Found another troubling clip. Whatever was following Alex has him running now.**

"Nope...not gonna get scared." Ruby clenched her body to keep from flinching, Yang doing the same. Weiss and Blake didn't need to and sat there cross-legged and on full alertness.

Some footage of the camera being flung around showed while Alex runs through a forest at night. The beam of Alex's flashlight is sometimes seen. The video has no sound. Alex stops and searches tall grass with his flashlight.

"Bet you five lien he's gonna show there." Yang offered to her team, who didn't accept the bet. Usually, Yang will always win whatever bet is made between them, so they've learned their lesson.

Alex's flashlight stops on the tall, faceless man behind the tall grass. Alex starts running through the forest again. Alex reaches an area with concrete on the ground outside a building. Alex films the ground. Alex searches the grass at the border of the forest with his flashlight.

"Whew...that almost got me." Ruby sighs in accomplishment. Weiss was doing good, but coughed a bit until she cleared her throat and drank a cold glass of water to calm it. Blake shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Alex's frantic running and searching. Yang laughed mockingly at the TV, bragging that it didn't get her that time.

Alex points the camera up, his face is seen for a moment. Alex begins pointing his flashlight into the forest again. The flashlight stops upon the slender man. The camera points to the ground as Alex starts running again then turned to the black screen. The video ends.

"You know, I am really grateful that this tape didn't have any sound to it, otherwise this would've gotten to me." Ruby sweated a bit, but contained her smile.

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad. It was still creepy as hell, but it wasn't bad." Yang chuckles in victory.

"I would really like to get to the longer clips. Like maybe at least five minutes." Blake wished.

"Well in that case, play another one." Weiss points to Ruby, who was already on it.

It played as a dark screen is first to appear along with audio that is heavily distorted and appears to be from something outdoors. Weiss thought to herself in her head. Could this possibly be the missing audio from the entry they just watched? It's a bit of a stretch to assume that it is this early, but she can at least try.

A sequence of appearances of text appeared, confusing the hell out of the girls. They appear and disappear on different parts of the screen, appearing in different groupings and in different or similar locations.

 **Lakes**

 **In Stillness will**

 **Take**

 **Every**

 **life**

 **of the**

 **Night**

The video ended abruptly there, leaving the four mind blowned.

"Uuhh…..wha?" Yang asked dumbly. Ruby scratching the side of her head in a state of utter stupidity.

"Was that a joke? What on Remnant was that?" Weiss asked.

Blake hummed, getting shocked looks from her three friends.

"You can't possibly be thinking about it, are you?" Yang asked incredulously.

"Have you gotten a good look at the video? Apparently, you three haven't kept our promise in _looking closely_." Blake scolded her team, who laughed nervously.

"Sorry, but what could have possibly been there that we've missed?" Weiss asked her, desperately.

"The words that were capitalized spell out LISTEN. Ruby, replay it." Ruby nodded fastly and did so.

 **Lakes**

 **In Stillness will**

 **Take**

 **Every**

 **life**

 **of the**

 **Night**

"Lakes. In. Stillness. Take. Every. Night. L, I, S, T, E, N. LISTEN." Blake explained to them, who awed at her attentiveness.

"Wow, Blake! You rock!" Ruby praised her black-haired friend, who flushed slightly.

"Nothing can escape from these eyes." Blake pointed to her sharp, feline eyes.

"Still though, does that add to something?" Yang asked.

"I guess it means that we should _look closely_ and _listen_ very carefully during these. We never know what we could miss, and who is more fit for the job than our own kitty cat." Ruby slung an arm around Blake's shoulder, who pushed it off.

"I guess. One more, and we'll try to find anything that we can catch with our eyes and ears. And no talking." Weiss demanded of her team.

"Sounds good to me. That way I can focus a lot more." Yang stretched her arms and sat correctly to pay more close attention.

Ruby resumed the videos and the black screen with the white text made itself known on their TV:

 **Entry #11**

 **I found another clip of a close encounter. However, I don't think Alex was aware of it.**

 _'Uh oh…'_ Ruby thought. She didn't like that. WBY tilted their heads unsurely of the little warning before straightening themselves.

It cuts to footage of Alex laying in his bed. Pictures are hanging on the wall behind him. Blake quickly took some in her hands to make sure they're still there. Alex quickly gets out of bed and grabs the camera. Alex leaves the room and shuts off the lights. He walks down some stairs and through a room. The camera is pointed through some blinds out a window. RWBY sees darkness and a fence.

Alex turns and walks away from the window. It is too dark to see anything. Alex arrives in a lit room with carpet, the camera is pointed at the floor. The camera is pointed out a window as Alex pulls apart a crack in the blinds. Alex turns around and walks back into a dark room. The figure is seen out a window on the right side of the frame. Alex does not seem to notice. Weiss saw it and fought down the cough that was crawling up her throat and quickly took a huge gulp of her drink. The rest widened their eyes at the sight and backed up slightly from the TV.

Alex peers through the blinds of a window in the room. Alex turns the light by the stairs back on and walks up the stairs. Alex sets the camera down and repositions it the way it was in the beginning of the video. Alex lies down in his bed. A shadow passes over him. A breeze moves the sketches slightly. The girls shuddered and fought their screams. The black screen ends the video.

"Oh no, what's going to happen to Alex? It's in his room." Ruby talked quickly in fear for Alex.

"Calm down Ruby. Remember, we aren't going to let this beat us." Weiss placed a caring hand on her shoulder, which expectedly make her quiet down considerably.

"I understand." Blake said out of nowhere, Yang turning to her.

"Yeah? Understand what?"

"This eleventh entry showcases Alex's growing paranoia." The cat faunus states.

"Yeah, and it's completely justified too!" Yang agreed with her partner.

"Alright, I'm good thank you, Weiss. Okay, what time is it exactly?" Ruby asked Blake, who swiped her scroll off her shelf.

"It is three o'clock on the dot." Ruby nodded in thanks and turned to address them again, "How about two more, then call it a day?"

The three exchanged looks to each other before agreeing with the plan.

"Okay, just gonna go ahead and say that this is gonna keep me up all night." Yang confessed, the rest laughing.


	8. Deluge, Entry 12, & Impurity

It was exactly two minutes since RWBY finished entry #11 and they were getting ready for entry #12...all except Blake. She's been noticing a pattern lately where there's an entry then one video where it's not an entry. Perhaps there's a side line to the main plot or something. She'll find out sooner or later.

"Okay, entry number 12. Let's go!" Ruby pressed play but it was not what she was expecting.

Yang was the exact same as her sister. She was expecting white text but all there is is two white beams of light going parallel.

Weiss glanced at Blake and saw her nodding. Did she know this would happen?

The audio is a distorted bass noise. Included in the mix is a slow voice that is very incoherent to make out. Even Blake was having trouble listening in on what it's saying.

This went on for a few more seconds until the video ended with text:

 **WATCHING Y0U**

This sparked a chain of reactions throughout the team: Ruby shivered in her seat and held her close to herself in fear at being watched, Weiss had both hands on the side of her head in contemplation, Blake holding her chin in her hand, thinking the day away, and Yang made a disgusted face while shaking her head from side to side rapidly at the creepy message. What was this and why is it so goddamn creepy?

"Now _that_ will keep me up all night." Ruby said first, hugging herself still.

"I really hope you can help us out Blake." Weiss said to the cat faunus desperately.

"Visually, this clip consists of a pair of fluorescent lights—creating a parallel pattern—that flashes in what looks to be more Morse code. I don't even know what it means though, sorry." Blake said, genuinely sad that she couldn't figure this one out.

"Well, you can't win 'em all, which sucks." Yang patted her on the shoulder in thanks anyway.

"Alright, next one." Ruby resumed the playlist of tapes.

 **Entry #12**

 **I found another clip with heavy distortion. In it, Alex is acting more like himself.**

"Yay! Alex is back!" Ruby cheered for him. She liked it when people acted like themselves.

"But for how long though?" Weiss countered quickly, wanting to make sure he's being serious.

"Aw, who cares? Just be glad that in this one, he's starting to shape up." Yang said, happy for Alex and his friends.

"The only problem with this one is the distortion…" Blake trailed off in complaint.

The screen cuts to footage of a park with trees and a line of bushes. Alex: **"Uh, I dunno. He'll move. Uh, let's go ahead and get this shot. It is so hot."** Brian: **"Okay."** Alex: **"Brian, we have the camera cut. Just get set to control it, and we'll be out of here in a moment."** Brian: **"Are we doing lines?"** Alex: **"Not in this part, we're just, uh, walking to the river and that's when you guys will start picking up."** Audio distortion is heard. The quality of the video and sound changes.

"AAAH!" Ruby jumped and her arms shook at the distortion jump scare, Weiss immediately flinched and coughed violently while reaching for her glass, Blake and Yang held each other with their eyes widened.

Alex continues speaking: **"Uh, just follow us as we cross into the frame."** Camerawoman: **"Alright."** Alex and Brian cross the frame walking towards the river to the right. The camera follows them. Alex: **"I hope so."** Alex and Brian break character and turn back. Alex: **"And that's about as far as we're going to go. We don't want side… [indecipherable]"** The camera begins moving back to the left. It stops with a view of the tall man.

"Oh my God, WHY?!" Ruby hugged Weiss, whose vision was beginning to get a little staticy and blurry. Blake calmed herself down...well tried to, and Yang took a peek at Weiss and noticed her squinting her eyes.

 _'What's wrong with her?'_

Brian: " **That would be gross."** Alex: **"Oh, here's Tim."** It becomes apparent that the man is not Tim. Alex: **"Alright, uh, let's get him off the set… I hope he's not angry at us. Hey! Buddy!"** Camerawoman: **"What's he doing?"** The screen cuts to black as the video ends.

"Um, okay. So...what just happened?" Ruby asked meekly. Why did the camera girl stop the video so suddenly?

"This tape here shows Alex as his normal self. Did the tall man come to fix that or something?" Yang finished, just confused as Ruby.

Weiss cleared her throat while Blake spoke up, "This has to occur very early in the filming, because Alex treats the slender man like a regular guy instead of a paranormal entity he's being stalked by. If this were to happen later in the timeline, where Alex was more familiar with the oddity, he instead may have freaked out. If we want to find out what does happen, we should continue."

"I was already on it." Ruby clicked the play button and there was a black screen, but no audio. There was white text that was overlapping the screen, blinking:

 **begin**

"Is this another one of those videos where we have to think? I hope not…" Yang said, complaining.

"Shh!" Blake waved a hand in Yang's direction, the blonde holding her hands up in defense.

After the text disappeared, a series of zeroes is presented:

 **00000000000000000000000000**

 **00000**

 **000000000000000000**

 **000000000000000**

"Another code?!" Ruby whined, kicking her feet adorably.

"It could be telling us something to help us out." Weiss told her leader, calming her down.

After some time, some tree tops are filmed in the rain during a thunderstorm. The audio appears to be of that storm - including rain and thunder sounds - along with a frequency of medium to high pitch that rang fiercely in Blake's second pair of ears. Right before the cut to the fourth section, the word "operator" appears in the plant.

"What is that? Operator?" Ruby pointed shakily at the screen, WY shrugging unknowingly. Blake held her chin in her hand in thought. What could "operator" mean? In general, an operator is someone who works with machines, apparatus, or the like. It could also mean someone who is controlling the whole situation of something...wait.

Lastly, a heavily distorted audio clip is played and the screen is filled with zeroes.

"Wait, Ruby! Pause it." Blake and Weiss yelled. Ruby quickly paused it at the screen of zeroes.

"I knew it. There are letters hidden in the sequence of zeroes. Let's see…" Weiss muttered with Blake helping her out.

"T, H, E, R, another E…" Weiss counted the letters.

"W, A, S, M, R, E." Blake finished counting. She grabbed the paper that she used for the first clip that had something like this and wrote down the letters. Once she did, she switched them around to make something out of it and gasped at her results.

"What's it, Blake?" Ruby asked her, Yang getting up quickly to look at the piece of paper. Weiss slowly walked over to their huddle.

"I wrote them all down and switched them around some and I found this…" She held up the paper for them to see and they read the words "T H E R E W A S M R E".

"There was...more?" Weiss asked unsurely. Blake nodded at her answer and addressed her team again, "The letter O was left out because the number 0 replaced it between M and R. It was the exact same deal as the first clip we saw that made us _look closely."_

"Wow... that's very clever! So cool, too!" Ruby had stars in her eyes at the many secrets these tapes have and may hold. Yang chuckled in glee at them solving the puzzle again. Weiss nodded slowly, some static coming back into her line of sight before fading away again.

"Now that that's done, how 'bout we get some rest, huh? We deserve that at least." Ruby told her team of misfits before rushing to the restroom to change. The rest had did the same once she was finished. She turned off the TV and jumped on her bed. Yang laughed and rolled onto her bed, waiting to see more this show. Blake straightened out the stack of papers and laying them onto their nightstand before doing the same. Weiss turned off the lights and covered herself in her sheets. She closed her eyes but not before a tall shadow appeared in her vision at the corner of their room. The heiress widened her eyes and shook her head before looking again, but found nothing. She tilted her head in suspicion before laying down again.


	9. Entry 13 & Exit

Weiss was running in the middle of the woods with a camera, the flashlight that was taped on the top turned on so she could see.

"Run, Weiss! It's right there!" Said a voice beside her. It belonged to a tall man who looked to be in his twenties with brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a brown jacket with a white undershirt, blue jeans, and a brown cap with his own camera was running right beside the heiress. He also wore black running shoes, perfect for a situation like this.

"Where!?" She yelled, running for her life.

"In there! Hurry!" Said the man as they jumped across a line of rocks and into a wide tunnel. A light was at the end of it. Weiss tripped over something, her camera left her hand and breaking.

She looked at what she tripped over and gagged when she saw it was a rock that was stained with blood that she tripped on.

"Weiss! Come on! We don't have all day! Jay, get her camera, let's go!" Said another man as he picked up the heiress. He was shorter than her and the first guy with black hair and brown eyes. He had on a red flannel shirt with black stripes and blue jeans with brown shoes. He also has camera attached to a holster on his chest.

"Tim, wait!" Jay yelled, almost tripping from tiredness. He dropped to the floor, Tim saw him and laid the heiress down up against the tunnel wall and went to check up on Jay. Weiss stood up with effort and stumbled as she walked to her friends.

A gunshot scared her as she ducked instinctively. She cautiously turned her head to the other side of the tunnel and saw him. Alex.

Alex held his gun high and pointed it at Tim who was helping Jay up.

"Alex! Don't do this! Put the gun-AH!" Tim fell to the ground as Alex shot him in the knee.

"TIM!" Jay screamed in horror as he knelt down in front of the shorter man and tore off a part of his jacket and tended to the wound.

Alex walked closer to the two until Weiss stepped in between them. Alex frowned and a tear escaped his eye as he lowered his gun, "Weiss, move. I don't want to hurt you. You've got to understand! They're the ones whose fault this all is!"

"NO!"

Weiss ran and tackled Alex to the ground, the gun left his hand and hit the wall. Jay, after having aiding Tim's wound, went and grabbed the gun and pointed it at Alex.

"Stop, Jay! We need him for questioning."

Jay hesitated and put his trigger finger over to shoot, until the gun disappeared from his hand, "What!?"

Soon, everyone's vision went blurry and filled with static, including Alex's and Tim's, and started coughing wildly. Jay fell and felt something wrap around his legs. He looked and started yelling, "Tim! Weiss! Help!"

"Jay!" Tim saw his friend being dragged down the long and dark tunnel. Weiss looked on in horror and helplessly, crying over Jay. Alex saw her state and narrowed his eyes and turned his attention towards Tim, "If you had minded your own business, none of this would've happened!"

Tim took offense to that, "How could you start fighting at a time like this!? He's your friend too, don't you have a heart!? And he was the one who came to me! I didn't want any part of this! I was doing good! I was getting better!"

Weiss gasped. That's why Tim showed up like he did. Alex opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't as Tim's mouth closed and was stitched close from an unseen force. Tim mumbled a scream with tears in his eyes before flickering out of existence.

"Tim!" Weiss yelled and cried. What is happening? This wasn't supposed to happen.

"I'm sorry Weiss…" She turned to Alex, who was down casted with tears falling down to the ground as a tall figure with a business suit and a blank face looked down on her from beside her. He tilted his head and multiple black tentacles emerged from his back. Her vision grew weaker, her body grew weaker. Unbeknowest to her, her blue eyes turned a deep red. Blood replaced her tears as they stained her dress, her face drowned in deep depression. She has lost everything.

 ** _In RWBY's dorm…_**

"AAAHHH!!!"

Weiss shot up from her bed, sweating and panting. She took deep breaths and put a hand to her heart to stop it from beating faster than Ruby going full-on crazy with her semblance.

Ruby's eyes flinched as she got up groggily. Blake opened her eyes slowly, a little annoyed. Yang rolled over, still asleep, and fell off her bed.

"Oww…"

"Weiss...why did you scream?" Ruby whined while rubbing her eyes.

"Did the "princess" have nightmares? ***Hiss*** , ouch.." Yang laughed, soothing her leg.

"...yes…." Weiss spoke softly. Yang lifted her head quickly and bowed in apology. Blake rolled her eyes at her partner's inconsideration.

"Is it because of those tapes?" Ruby asked. Her partner nodded and hugged her knees.

"I dreamt about me and two other guys running from that tall guy with no facial features. Alex was there too. I seemed to know those people."

RBY widened their eyes at her dream. That bad, huh?

"Can you tell us about it? Maybe it will help you feel better." Yang suggested.

The heiress nodded, "I was in this huge, dark, and seemingly endless wooded area with a camera in my hand. I was running, a little bit out of energy, until this guy, Jay, ran beside me and lead me to this tunnel deep in the woods. I tripped over some rock with blood stains on it. That's when another guy came to us, Tim from that entry we saw. He picked me up and we kept on running. Jay got tired from running and collapsed, Timhad to go help him. We all had cameras by the way. Then Alex came, with a gun in his hand as he shot at me. I ducked away of course, but he seemed to flinch when he did shoot. The second guy tried to calm him down some, but Alex shot his leg. Jay and I screamed as Jay went to tend to the bullet wound. Alex came closer to us, but that's when I stepped in. Alex knew who I was and told me to step aside. He was crying when I refused to move. He almost pulled the trigger but I tackled him before he could. We fell and Jay went to pick up the gun when Alex dropped it. I told him to not shoot Alex until he answered some of our questions, but then all of our visions started to blur and become all staticy. That's when he showed up. The Operator."

Weiss paused in her explanation and coughed, Ruby comforting her. Yang frowned at her dilemma. Blake gasped at that name and widened her eyes to their greatest extent.

'So that's his name. I was right...sort of. The Operator…'

"So, what happened next?" Ruby encouraged her, wanting to know more.

"We all started coughing in unison. The gun left Jay's hand and he fell to the floor. That's when something grabbed a hold of him and dragged him away, Jay screaming for our help. We couldn't do anything because we couldn't see who it was and Jay was going pretty fast down the tunnel. Alex and Tim started arguing back and forth, until Tim's mouth stitched closed from out of nowhere as he disappeared. Alex apologized to me for some reason, and that's when the Operator grew black tentacles and stabbed me through the stomach…" Weiss concluded, tears flowing down her pretty face, "And that's when I woke up!"

Ruby couldn't stand Weiss crying and so did the logical thing and hugged the life out of her, Yang following up. Blake, despite being who she is, immediately held the heiress tightly in her embrace.

"It's okay. It was just a nightmare…" Ruby told her, tightening her grip like Weiss was going to leave her. Her heart stopped for a whole second at the image of Weiss dying like that.

Yang and Blake rubbed her arm and back in comfort, hoping that will calm her heart.

"I guess you won't be joining us when we watch more of it today-" "No."

Yang grew surprised at Weiss' jump as the heiress got up from her bed and clenched her fists at her side, "We made an oath to ourselves that as a team, we will conquer these tapes together. No more will this show get in my head!"

Ruby chuckled nervously, Yang smiled at her upbeat attitude, "A weird way to put it, but I am game!"

"Trust me, with what we've seen so far, so many questions will need explaining." Blake said, agreeing with Weiss.

"It's barely seven, so we have time to freshen up before we watch more. Let's get to it!" Ruby cheered.

After a little over half an hour, they were all awake and ready for more of their show. By now, they have a love/hate relationship with it.

Ruby and her team took their seats in front of the TV and pressed play.

The famous black screen appeared with its white text following:

 **Entry #13**

It cuts to footage of the ground in a forest. Alex's foot is seen. Alex: **"Yeah, this one's kinda low. Um."** Jay: **"Do you have the extra one?"** Alex: **"No, I think I left it in the car. Uh, can you go get it?"** Jay: **"Yeah."** Alex: **"Okay."** Jay: **"Oh, wait. Where is it?"**

"That's him…" Weiss mutters.

"Who?" Ruby asks, Weiss pointing to the guy on the screen.

"That's Jay. The guy in my dream. He looks just like him, just without the cap." Weiss says, looking at him in contemplation. She felt a tear threatening to escape at the memory she had of him being carried away to die.

"Hey. What did we tell you? It was just a dream." Blake put a hand on her shoulder.

Weiss still kept her eyes on Jay, her heart oddly beating fast in concern for him. Yang saw this and couldn't help herself, " ** _Oh~_** , does our little princess have a crush on Jay?"

Ruby and Blake chuckled at the heiress blushing at the question, but she didn't say anything to deny it.

Alex: **"Uh, I think I left it in the passenger seat."** Jay: **"Okay."** Alex: **"If not, the trunk."** Jay: **"Okay."** Alex: **"I'm going to keep on going though, so just…"** Jay: **"I'll meet you down there."** Alex: **"Okay."** Alex walks into the forest, Jay runs back toward the car.

" _Please be careful, Jay…_ " Weiss whispers to herself. Blake heard her perfectly and smirked in her direction.

The video cuts to Alex pointing the camera at trees. The video cuts to Alex brushing off an ellipse with an X through it on pavement outside a building with an X drawn on the side. Alex looks up at the roof of the building, then walks under a fence into the grassy field. Alex passes by a marker on the ground that reads 3'8". Distortion is heard. Some static is heard, then the sound cuts out for the rest of the video. Alex looks up at what appear to be bleachers. Alex moves the camera to the left and sees the faceless man is seen beyond a fence.

Ruby closed her eyes, but didn't jump at him, Weiss shook her head at Alex's situation, Blake rubbed the sides of her head with her palms, and Yang leaned back to suppress her little scare there.

Alex runs toward the fence with the camera pointed at the ground and makes his way to the building the slender man was near. Alex walks along the concrete wall of the building. Alex turns a corner and the man is seen. The camera moves down quickly. The screen cuts to black and the video ends.

Four hands shot up and smacked their foreheads in annoyance.

"How many times!?" Ruby screamed, fed up with the man. She wasn't even scared anymore. This was getting ridiculous. Alex doesn't deserve what is happening to him. She still doesn't know what Alex did to him. She wanted to help Alex.

"Why does Alex wander around so much? You would think that he would be a little more careful when he's by himself. I guess this is one of those tapes where he isn't that familiar with the man-" "Operator."

Weiss suddenly said. Blake stopped and looked at her confused. Weiss blinked at her own interruption, "I don't know where that came from. I have an inkling though."

"Well, what is it?" Yang egged her on.

"The word, or name in this case, "Operator" is what that tall, faceless man is called. That was another thing in my dream. This man is referred to as Operator. I have no idea why that makes so much sense to me, but it does." Weiss shrugged.

RBY looked at each other and shrugged in acceptance, "Okay. As I said, I guess this is one of those earlier tapes where Alex isn't too familiar with the Operator."

"Yeah, like that one where they were filming and Alex was seemingly okay with everything!" Ruby chimed in.

"How about another one?" Yang said, eager to see more.

They all nodded and continued with the next video.

The video starts with quick flashes of the words " **Rat** " " **He** " " **Ore** " and " **Top** ". Buzzing can be heard during it.

The sisters squinted their eyes in a heavy effort in figuring out what those meant, but they flashed too fast for them to sit and contemplate. Weiss and Blake were the only ones to catch it, the latter more easily. What did the "Rat" mean? It has nothing to do with this.

Footage from a handheld camcorder flickers, then steadies and zooms in on a white convertible. Jay walks around the back of the car and enters in through the driver's side.

"Who's doing that!? **Get away from him!** " Weiss stood up and shook the TV in anger at the unknown person and fear for Jay. The girls had to pry Weiss off the screen, but she didn't budge.

"Weiss! Chill!" Yang said. What has she been eating?

"He's minding his own business! What could you possibly need him for!? **Stop it!** " Weiss screamed in the TV's face. Ruby used her speed for a more greater force and pushed Weiss from her front. They tumbled across the room to the back. Blake hurriedly paused the video. Yang frowned at her sister's partner. She's never seen Weiss so protective over _someone_ before these past months in Beacon.

Ruby and Weiss fought for a few seconds, rolling on the floor and bumping into things. They almost knocked over the lamp and Blake's bookshelf, but the cat took care of that. Ruby got on top of Weiss and pinned her down, restraining her legs and arms. Her shiny silver eyes locked with her icy blue ones.

"Weiss, what's the matter with you? What's he to you?" Ruby asked her. Weiss struggled and almost broke free but Yang's added strength was enough to officially chain her down.

She choked on her own words and spoke softly, "He saved me."

"Huh?" RBY grew confused. When did Jay save her?

"I know it was just a dream, but it meant a lot to me. Before we were running, we were talking. He was very polite and a great listener. Even though he was a little awkward, he gave me the time of day. He treated me to lunch and a very good movie. We took a walk in the park after that, but of course everything had to go wrong. The Operator showed and tried to kill us or something, but Tim had come to our rescue very luckily at the last second. I guess he was in the area at the time, but it was futile. He was unstoppable. He vanished from our sight. That's when he took me. I was being taken somewhere, but Jay had grabbed my hand the last second. The three of us ran into the forest and you know the rest." Weiss looked to the side, thinking about Jay.

Ruby sighed and got up from her position. Yang smiled at the little mention of her "date" with this Jay fellow. Blake merely grinned a little, hugging a book to her chest. Weiss continued, "I also found out about something. Jay is the one who has been narrating all this time."

"What!?" The sisters screamed in disbelief. Blake nodded her head. She figured it was him by this point.

"Yeah. How about we get back to that video, huh? I promise I won't get out of hand anymore." Weiss swore to her team. They believed her and resumed the tape.

Cars passing on the nearby street are the only audio. The video seems to have a filter applied that turns darker areas of the clip completely black. They all cringed at the bright black light when it happens.

Jay pops the trunk, gets out of the car, and opens the trunk. After a few moments, he finds what he is looking for, closes the trunk (while looking at the camera for a split second, Blake caught on), and locks up the car. He runs back to where he started - the camera follows his movements, then runs after him. A beep is heard, and the video cuts.

"Wait, go back!" Blake screamed again, Ruby already having the pattern on Blake's sudden pops on lock.

The video was rewinding, but it wasn't very long. It was the very last frame of the camera turning where it cut to an end, "There! Pause it."

She did and a very quick frame appeared with the words "WHEREIS THEARK" is displayed on the clip.

"Where is the ark? What could that mean?" Ruby asked, her face turned into a silly confused look.

"Isn't an ark some huge boat that very old guy built for someone like a long time ago?" Yang asked, not getting why a boat would be what the camera person there was looking for.

"Yeah. Maybe it's a symbol for something. An ark could also mean a place of protection or security, refuge if you will." Blake explained shortly.

"So, that was another one. I just really want to see what Jay will say about this." Weiss brought her hands to her chest, worried.

"I don't see what you see in him Weiss that makes you all hot for him." Yang said bluntly.

"Hey! Jay is very nice and caring. Plus, he saved me! And... he's...cute…" Weiss started off strong, but ended very shyly, blushing a deep scarlet red.

Ruby made a "eww" face and shook her head, "How about the next one? No seriously, I need something to get my mind off of Weiss' weird crush." She asked desperately, the heiress glaring at the young leader. BY were laughing at Ruby's innocence.


End file.
